Safety device for typographical composing machines



1 July 12, 1938. R, M, ERRY. R 2,123,271

SAFETY DEVICE FOR TYPOGRAPHICAL COMPOSING MACHINES Filed 001;. 21, 1957 PM BY Q ATTORNEY.

i of the molding liner selected for operation.

Patented July 12, 1938 UNITED STATES SAFETY DEVICE FOR TYPOGRAPHICAL COMPOSING MACHENES Robert M. Berry, Sin, Uniontown, Pa.

Application October 21, 1937, Serial No. 170,174

3 Claims.

The invention relates generally to typographical composing machines, and more specifically to the provision of an automatic safety device for preventing the continued operation of the machine after a change in the character of such operation has been made by the operator.

Thus, for instance, there are occasions for changing the mold liners and in such cases the operator stops the machine and adjusts the mold disk to a new position, but in such'instances the operator must also make other adjustments before the machine may be again put in operation.

'Iypographical composing machines have a mold disk which may be provided with one to six mold apertures. These mold apertures are arranged to receive mold liners capable of producing different size line casting type slugs.

In large printing establishments, where the volume of business will permit, it has been the general practice to equip the composing depart ment with different machines, each being capable of producing a different size line casting slug. In such an installation the molding disk of each machine is generally equipped to operate at two, three or four molding positions with the same size molding liners. If the volume of a single class of business is very heavy such an establishment would merely duplicate the machine handling that class of work and employ more operators. In instances of .thiskind the o erators do not have to bother about changing the assembler slide, the long finger on the line delivery carriage. the vise which holds the matrices during the molding operation, the mold liner, the slug ejector blade or the slug trimming knife and other parts that are directly associated with a slug of a particular size.

However in smaller establishments and in some larger establishments, some of the typographical composing machines are provided with molding disks having a plurality of liners each of which is arranged to produce a different size slug. In a machine of this character each of the above mentioned parts must be adjusted to suit the size If the vise, the ejector blade or the slug trimming knife were not changed to suit the liner selected, subsequent operation of the machine would break those parts of the machine resulting in serious damage and considerable delay required to repair the same.

After the selection of a different size molding liner the operator is supposed to adjust each of these parts in accordance with the liner chosen.

However there is no automatic interlocking device provided for checking the adjustment of these parts and the personal element of the operator must be implicitly relied upon to perform these adjustments.

The principal object of this invention is the provision of a reminder which will suggest to the operator that he must check the adjustment of each of the parts that must be changed in conjunction with the initial adjustment that he has made, such as the selection of a different size molding liner before proceeding with the operation of the typographical composing machine.

Another object is the provision of means for automatically setting a cut-out for stopping the machine after once the change, such as the selection of a different mold casting liner has been accomplished.

Another object is the provision of a hand reset for restoring the automatic cut-out.

Other objects and advantages will appear in the following description.

In the accompanying drawing, wherein a practical embodiment of the principles of this invention is illustrated in connection with the mold disk:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing a sufficient part of a typographical composing machine to illustrate the application of the principles of this invention thereto.

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the automatic cut-out lever shown in Fig. 1.

Referring to the drawing, ill represents a part of the main frame of the machine which has secured thereto the vise cap H arranged to slidably support the first elevator l2 and carry the matrix vise it. Hi represents guide fingers or plates which are removably secured to the vise cap ii and are arranged to overlie the beveled flanged surface 15 of the elevator i2 for slidably supporting the latter to permit vertical travel of the same within definite limits.

it represents an inclined galley support secured to the vise cap ii for carrying an inclined galley tray ll shown in dotted lines and which is arranged to receive the molded slugs after they have been ejected from the molding disk [8 and trimmed ready for use in the next step in the process of printing. a

The circular mold disk i8 is rotatably supported on the frame ill and gear teeth are cut in the perimetral surface thereof as illustrated at M. The particular molding disk shown in the drawing is provided with four rectangularly shaped apertures cut through the faces of the disk in planes normal thereto and adjacent the gear teeth on the periphery. Each aperture is disposed in a separate quadrant of the circular disk, thereby making the oppositely positioned apertures in parallel relation to one another. These apertures are arranged. to receive different size molding liners of which two are shown at 2B and 2I on the drawing.

22 represents an intermediate driving shaft provided at one end with the pinion 23 arranged to be driven by the usual intermittent driving apparatus at the rear of the machine. The shaft 22 is provided with the clutch 24 which is biased by a spring for maintaining the mold disk pinion 25 in driving relation with the shaft 22. The mold disk pinion 25 is at all times in mesh with the gear I9 of the mold disk.

When the machine is not operating the mold disk pinion 25 may be drawn forwardly by means of the hand knob 26, thereby disengaging the pinion 25 from the drive shaft 22 and permitting relation of the pinion by means of the hand knob. When the pinion 25 is drawn forward so that it is rotatably free of the shaft 22 the teeth thereof still maintain a partial interengagement with the gear I9 of the mold disk. Thus rotation of the pinion 25 rotates the mold disk I8. This represents the normal operation for changing the position of the mold disk to permit the use of a different mold liner in the operation of the machine. These machines are adapted to operate using only one mold liner at a time and by providing different size liners on one molding disk one machine is capable of producing a considerable variety of slug sizes.

Indicators are provided on the machine to show the operator the exact position to which the mold disk should be adjusted to provide the proper selection of the mold liner desired.

When the operator releases the hand knob 26, and the mold disk is in its proper position, the clutch spring draws the pinion 25 rearwardly and reengages it with the shaft 22. Thus the mold disk is positioned to produce the newly selected sizeslug. However the operator must also change the vise for holding the matrices which form the outer section of the mold. He must also change the ejector blade whether it is of the single or multiple section type. If the improper blade is used the ejection mechanism may jam the blade in the mold liner, causing the parts to break.

Again the knives that trim the slug as it is ejected from the mold liner must be adjusted or they are also liable to be broken or cause jamming of the machine.

To prevent such accidents a simple mechanically operated cut-out lever 21 is provided. This lever is secured at its lower end to the vertical post of the vise cap II by means of a screw 28. The screw may be bottomed in its threaded hole or otherwise provided with a locking device to prevent accidental dislodgment of the same. A pressure washer 29 is provided under the head of the screw to resist the pivotal movement of the lever 21.

The other or upper end of the lever 21 is provided with a rearwardly projecting arm or finger 30, the outer end of which is arranged to engage the front face of the mold disk pinion 25 when the latter is moved forwardly by means of the hand knob 26 for adjusting the position of the mold disk.

Between the arm 30 and the pivotal point of the lever 21, a second arm or finger 3| is secured to the lever which projects forwardly and to the right. The free end of the arm 3| is arranged to overlie the flanged surface I5 of the first elevator I2 when the lever 21 has been swung forwardly by pulling the mold disk pinion 25 out of engagement with the drive shaft 22. The lever 21 is shown in its forward position in Fig. 1 and the disk pinion 25 having been released has returned to its normal position.

The vertical post II of the vise cap in typographical composing machines is a casting. Upon close inspection of this casting it will be observed that the surface to which the lever 21 is secured is angularly disposed and not parallel to the axis of the shaft 22. Thus the forward and rearward movement of the lever 2'! is in a plane parallel to this surface. By taking advantage of this fact the end of the arm 32 overlies the flanged surface I5 of the elevator I2 when the lever 21 is in its forward position. When the lever 21 is in its rearward position the end of the arm 3| is retracted in a path laterally upwardly thereby escaping engagement with the flanged surface I5 of the elevator I2.

A stop pin 32 is secured to the flange I5 of the elevator at a position thereon which does not slide under the keeper plates I4 during the normal vertical travel of the first elevator I 2. However when the elevator I2 is near the lower limit of its travel the stop pin 32 will engage the arm 3|, as illustrated by showing the dotted line position of the pin 32 in Fig. 1, since the lever 2'! has been swung forwardly as illustrated on the drawmg.

If the lever 27 is moved back into its normal position the free end of the arm 3I will be withdrawn from the path of the stop pin 32. The flat intermediate arm 33 on the lever 21 is arranged to project forwardly beyond the surface of the galley tray support It to enable the operator to push the lever 21 rearwardly to its normal position after having released the arm 3I from under the stop pin 32 by raising the elevator I2.

If the elevator I2 is stopped between the limits of its normal travel or if it is not permitted to seat properly in its upper and lower positions the main driving clutch of the typographical composing machine is automatically disengaged, thereby shutting down the machine. Thus if the mold disk pinion 25 has been pulled forwardly to permit the selection of a different size liner the lever 21 will have been moved forwardly and when the machine is subsequently started and the first elevator descends to place a line of matrices in the molding vise it will be stopped when the pin 32 strikes the arm 3 I, and thereby shuts down the machine before any damage my happen by reason of the fact that the vise, ejector blades or trimming knives have not been properly adjusted.

The stopping of the machine suggests to the operator that he should check each of these points of adjustment and if they have been correctly made he merely releases the lever, returning it to its normal position and proceeds with the operation of the machine, being assured that it will function properly.

Every time the hand knob 26 is pulled forward to select a different mold liner the lever 27 will be positioned to shut down the machine, thereby providing an automatic device for reminding the operator that he has changed the mold liner and should check or re-check the associated parts of the machine before continuing to the operate the same to prevent damage thereof.

It will be aparent to those skilled in the art that the safety stop mechanism above described may be arranged to be actuated by any of the necessary adjustments which the operator may be required to make, but the initial adjustment which the operator customarily makes is preferably chosen.

I claim:

1. In a typographical composing machine having a mold selector and an elevator, 21. member arranged to be operated by the forward movement of said mold selector and arranged to be interposed by said movement in the path of the moving elevator to stop the latter, said member being manually retractable to permit the resumption of the machines operation.

2. In a typographical composing machine having a mold selector and an elevator, a swinging lever arranged to be operated by the forward movement of said mold selector and arranged to be interposed by said movement in the path of the moving elevator to stop the latter, said swing- .ing lever being manually retractable to permit the resumption of the machine's operation.

3. A stop for use with a typographical compose ing machine comprising a lever pivoted on said machine, an arm on said lever arranged to be operated by the forward movement of the mold selector, and a second arm on said lever arranged to be interposed in the path of the elevator when the lever is operated for stopping the machine.

ROBERT M. BERRY, SR. 

